Genus 12. 



FERN FAMILY 



2. Asplenium pinnatifidum Nutt. 

 Pirinatifid Spleenwort. Fig. 59. 



Asplenium pinnatifidum Nutt. Gen. 2: 251. 1818. 



Rootstock short-creeping, branched, conspic- 

 uously chaffy, with firm lanceolate dark brown 

 iridescent scales. Stipes often densely clustered, 

 polished, dark brown below, greenish above, 

 a'-5' long ; blades 3'-io' long, rigidly herbaceous 

 or coriaceous, narrowly deltoid-lanceolate, ta- 

 pering upward to a long narrow or filiform 

 sinuate apex, deeply pinnatifid or the lower parts 

 pinnate, the basal pinnae or occasionally sev- 

 eral pairs sometimes long attenuate like the 

 apex ; lobes or pinnae rounded or the lowest 

 acuminate ; sori commonly numerous, straight 

 or slightly curved, copiously confluent with 

 age. 



On rocks, Connecticut and New York to Mis- 

 souri, south to Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas" and 

 Missouri. Ascends to 3000 ft. in North Carolina. 

 July-Oct. 



3. Asplenium resiliens Kunze. Small Spleenwort. 

 Fig. 60. 



Asplenium parvulum Mart. & Gal. Mem. Acad. Brux. 15 5 : 60. 



1842, not Hook. 1840. 

 Asplenium resiliens Kunze, Linnaea 18: 331. 1844. 



Rootstock short, creeping, chaffy with black stiff scales. 

 Stipes tufted, blackish and shining, l'-2l' long; blades 

 firm, linear-oblong or linear-oblanceolate, 3'-io' long, 

 $"-12." wide, once pinnate ; pinnae 2"-6" long, mostly oppo- 

 site, oblong, obtuse, entire or crenulate, auricled on the 

 upper side or sometimes hastate-auriculate, nearly sessile, 

 the middle ones the longest, the lower gradually shorter, 

 distant and reflexed ; rachis dark brown or black; sori 

 oblong, short, nearly or quite straight, borne rather nearer 

 the margin than the midrib, often strongly confluent with 

 age and appearing as a broad submarginal band. 



On limestone, Virginia to Florida, west to Kansas, Texas 

 and New Mexico. Ascends to 2400 ft. in Virginia. Also in 

 Mexico and Jamaica. June-Oct. Called also Little Ebony 

 Spleenwort. 



4. Asplenium platyneuron (L.) Oakes. Ebony Spleenwort. Fig. 61. 



Acrostichum platyneuros L. Sp. PI. 1069. 1753. 

 Asplenium ebeneum Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 462. 1789. 

 Asplenium platyneuron Oakes ; D. C. Eaton, Ferns N. 

 Am. 1 : 24. 1879. 



Rootstock short-creeping, the fertile leaves up- 

 right, usually much surpassing the spreading sterile 

 ones. Stipes densely tufted, purplish or reddish 

 brown, shining, l'-s' long; blades linear-oblanceo- 

 late, 8-15' long, 1-2J' wide above the middle, firm, 

 once pinnate, the rachis like the stipes ; pinnae 20-40 

 pairs, lanceolate, subfalcate, alternate or partly so, 

 sessile, crenate, serrate or incised, auricled on the 

 upper side at the base and occasionally also on the 

 lower ; lower pinnae gradually smaller and oblong 

 or triangular; sori numerous, oblique, linear-oblong, 

 nearer the midvein than the margin, often confluent 

 with age. 



On rocks and banks, preferring limestone soil, Maine 

 and Ontario to Colorado, southward to Texas and the 

 Gulf states generally. Ascends to 4200 ft. in North 

 Carolina. Erroneously ascribed to Jamaica. South 

 African specimens, however, are identical. Several 

 deeply incised or pinnatifid forms have been described 

 from the United States. July-Sept. 



